Height of a T5 Unit from surface of water

Okay question....

Have a 48" Suntek T5 with the following configuration of lights

1 UVL Aqua sun 10K
1 UVL Actinic White 12K
1 ATI True Actinic .03
3 ATI Blue Plus

Its a little on the white side, was expecting more of a 14K look then a 10K look...looks like the color is somewhere in the middle...

But my question is what would be the optimum distance the bulbs should be from the water surface right now they are 6" above the water surface.

Would like some SPS corals and realize that they will need to be most likely somewhere in the top 1/3rd of the tank... that's fine...

I should also mention that I have a bare bottom tank that's been painted white....

Any suggestions???

Thanks

Tom

 

Hi Tom

Welcome to 3 reef by the way

height wise , I assume you are using the legs supplied with the fixture?
mine are approx 6 inches of the water surface over my softy set up

if you swap one of the blue plus - which is a 14 lamp IIRC with another true actinic
then you will get a slightly bluer look to your tank

you have a 10, 12 + 3 x 14 and only 1 lamp at present over 14k which means it colour temp is slightly favoring under 14k at present

Steve

 

Thanks for the info.

Over the last few days of looking at the tank
I am adjusting to the color temperature of the lights and
I am pleased with the way it looks.

I added a small frag red monti cap and it looks GREAT under the lights. Much better then it did while at the store.

Yes I am using the support legs for the unit, and was thinking about hanging it, but because of the tanks location, the legs are working out just fine.

What I may do when it comes time to replace the bulbs is go with your suggesting to get that bluer look.

Both the Hippo and Naso tang really SHINE under the light and I could not be more pleased....

 

Blue Pluses are supposed to be 20000K to 22000K Kelvin temperature bulbs. You can have the fixture up to 30" above the sand and will have great growth with your coral. You will be able to keep your SPS anywhere in the tank.